Baby Backs with Oakridge Secret Weapon Pork and Chicken Rub

We've been slowly working our way though the Oakridge Rub variety pack we bought to try out.  This week, we tried the Secret Weapon Pork and Chicken Rub...

It passed the finger test.  The rub has a nice sweet taste up front, BBQ spice in the middle, with a bit of heat on the back end.  There was enough in the pack for 3 half racks of baby backs, so lets experiment!

Took the racks and removed the membrane from the back.  Rinsed and patted dry, then a liberal coat of rub on the top...

Heated the Baby up to 250 F and added some Apricot and Hickory splits into the ash pan.  Ribs went on the second rack down on a four rack Baby.  This was two hours into the cook when I rotated the racks on the ends...

After 3:40 minutes, I put a thin glaze of Piper's Pit Hickory Apple Butter BBQ sauce on the ribs...

Piper's Pit is a local company that donates a portion of their profits to local charities.  The sauce itself has a nice hickory taste, but not over powering.  On the back end, you do get a taste of the apple butter.  An overall well balanced sauce.  Not too sweet with the right amount of spice.  It is a house favorite around here.

After saucing, I let set for 20 more minutes on the Baby to set the glaze.  Then pulled and let rest for 5 minutes...

After resting, here is the sliced product...

Nice smoke ring.  Tender and juicy with that slight pull off the bone texture that I look for.

Served with a side of scratch made macaroni salad and we had a great meal during the game...

I didn't have enough buttermilk, or you would have seen some cornbread as well...  ;)

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Take Advantage of those Last Tomatoes of the Year

I don't know how the tomatoes were in your neck of the woods this year, but in Western Pennsylvania, they were excellent.  Juicy and full of flavor, we took full advantage of this years crop.

So, the neighbor dropped off some nice slicing tomatoes, so we decided to make what has become one of our favorite pizzas:  Fresh Mozzarella and Tomato Pizza.

First, we made some homemade dough in the bread maker and stretched over a pizza pan.  While the dough was rising, we took some fresh garlic, diced fine, and put in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and thyme.  This probably sat in the oil for about 30 minutes.  After the dough was stretched, we brushed the dough with the olive oil mixture, then layered on top some thin sliced fresh mozzarella cheese and thinly sliced tomatoes.  The tomatoes got a light brush with some olive oil as well...

We preheated the oven to 425 F, then put the pizza in for 20 minutes, or until the crust was brown and the cheese was bubbly and brown.  Here is the finished product...

Sliced it up and had a great dinner.  Quick, simple, delicious...

I like mine with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese and hot pepper flakes for some kick.

Time is short, so give this a try before your tomatoes are gone for the year.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Pork Sirloin Roast, Seared and Braised

I was at Costco last week and they had pork sirloin roasts on sale for $1.99 lb.  They came in 4 packs and looked really nice.   Real lean, high quality meat.  So, I picked one up for some experimentation in the future...

First, I seasoned both sides with onion power, garlic powder, celery salt, thyme, and fresh ground pepper, then I sprayed with some olive oil...

I then lit my charcoal and while it was getting hot, I diced some new red potatoes, onion, and carrot.  I coated the veggies with olive oil and the same seasoning blend from above...

After the grill was screaming hot, I seared both sides of the roast.  About 5 minutes a side...

I placed the veggies in a foil pan, then put the roast on the bed of veggies.  Then, I covered the pan with foil, placed on indirect heat, and closed the grill lid...

After 30 minutes, I rotated the pan 180 degrees and let cook for 30 more minutes.  Then, I pulled from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes.  The internal temp was about 180 F.

After resting, I sliced...

The meat was nice and tender, juicy and moist.  The veggies were perfectly cooked and the au jus brought it all together.  I'll be trying this again.

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill

Perfect Grilled Tri-Tip

From time to time, my butcher has tri-tips for sale.  For those of you who don't know what a tri-tip is, it is the bottom sirloin roast.  Here is an explanation from Wikipedia. I think it is a very flavorful cut of beef.  The only problem is, it is hard to grill as it swells up like a basketball while grilling.  So, I have taken to smoking them.  But, I had one in the freezer and wanted to grill it up.  So, this past Sunday I decided to try one in the Pittsburgh Rare style.

What is Pittsburgh Rare?  It is a method of cooking a steak that we like around here.   You take a screaming hot grill and put a think cut steak on the hottest part of the grill (perfect for a tri-tip).  Once the first side on is starting the char, you flip it over until the second side chars.  The result?  A crispy outside and a red, juicy interior.

So, first, I seasoned both sides of the tri-tip with the following:

Granulated Garlic
Onion Powder
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Then, I placed the meat over the hottest part of the grill, then flipped when it was starting the char...(I threw a piece of oak in with the charcoal as well for some flavor.  Oak and beef are excellent together!)

I cooked to an internal temperature of 140 F, then removed from the grill and let rest for five minutes...

Then I sliced...

The thing I liked about this was that you get something for everyone:  medium-rare, medium, and medium well on the same piece of meat.

This was the best tri-tip I had ever grilled, hands down.  Tender and juicy.

I may still smoke them from time to time, but since I have the grilling technique down pat, I will grill more than I smoke for sure...

Thanks for stopping by...

Bill